Pasko Kisić-Merino

Political science

Research and areas of interest

• Ontological security
• Social media & AI politics
• Far-right studies

Current research

As a researcher at the PLEDGE Horizon project, I am engaged in a comprehensive study of the politics of grievance and democratic governance in European contexts. This work focuses on the relationship between interpersonal and institutional (dis)trust, democratic and anti-democratic emotions and attitudes, and hybrid media spaces and affordances. In my PhD research, I adopted a multidisciplinary approach, using the framework of Lacanian ontological security to analyse the psycho-mediatic intersection of far-right normalisation and mainstreaming, identity formation, international relations, and social media and artificial intelligence politics amid the crisis of the modern liberal order. 

Highlighted publications

Kisić-Merino, P. (2025). Enjoying the Fall: The Normalisation of the Far-Right as an Algorithmically-Mediated Fantasy of Ontological (In)Security [Doctoral Thesis (compilation), Karlstad University]. https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-102957

Kisić-Merino, P. (2025). The role of right-wing enjoyment in the normalisation of the far right. Review of International Studies, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210524000895 

Kinnvall, C., & Kisić-Merino, P. (2023). Deglobalization and the political psychology of white supremacy. Theory & Psychology, 33(2), 227–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543221138535

Kisić-Merino, P., & Kinnvall, C. (2023). Governing Emotions: Hybrid media, Ontological Insecurity and the Normalisation of Far-Right Fantasies. Alternatives, 48(1), 54–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/03043754221123467

Kisić-Merino, P., Capelos, T., & Kinnvall, C. (2021). Getting inside ‘the head’ of the far right: Psychological responses to the socio-political context. In S. D. Ashe, J. Busher, G. Macklin, & A. Winter (Eds.), Researching the Far Right: Theory, Method and Practice (1st ed., pp. 74–91). Routledge.

All publications by year

Kisić-Merino, P. (2025). Enjoying the Fall: The Normalisation of the Far-Right as an Algorithmically-Mediated Fantasy of Ontological (In)Security [Doctoral Thesis (compilation), Karlstad University]. https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-102957

Kisić-Merino, P. (2025). The role of right-wing enjoyment in the normalisation of the far right. Review of International Studies, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210524000895 

Garrett, R., Kisić-Merino, P., Núñez-Pacheco, C., Sanches, P., & Höök, K. (2024). Five Political Provocations for Soma Design: A Relational Perspective on Emotion and Politics. Proceedings of the Halfway to the Future Symposium, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1145/3686169.3686213

Bruinsma, B., Fredén, A., Hansson, K., Johansson, M., Kisić-Merino, P., & Saynova, D. (2024). Setting the AI Agenda—Evidence from Sweden in the ChatGPT Era (No. arXiv:2409.16946). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2409.16946

Kinnvall, C., & Kisić-Merino, P. (2023). Deglobalization and the political psychology of white supremacy. Theory & Psychology, 33(2), 227–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543221138535

Kisić-Merino, P., & Kinnvall, C. (2023). Governing Emotions: Hybrid media, Ontological Insecurity and the Normalisation of Far-Right Fantasies. Alternatives, 48(1), 54–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/03043754221123467

Kisić-Merino, P., Capelos, T., & Kinnvall, C. (2021). Getting inside ‘the head’ of the far right: Psychological responses to the socio-political context. In S. D. Ashe, J. Busher, G. Macklin, & A. Winter (Eds.), Researching the Far Right: Theory, Method and Practice (1st ed., pp. 74–91). Routledge.

Fredén, A., Johansson, M., Kisić-Merino, P., & Saynova, D. (2021). A Comparison of Language Processing Models in Political Analysis: Evidence from Sweden. 2021 American Political Science Association Meeting, Seattle, Washington, United States of America. https://tinyurl.com/34fzvbyw

Kisić-Merino, P. (2018). From Cambridge to Charlottesville: Media outlets and the relation between social media and far-right radicalisation [MSc Thesis, Lund University]. http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8958187

Alcalde, G. & Kisic, P. (2015) Cambia la participación juvenil, cambia el clima: Jóvenes en la definición de las contribuciones nacionales en países de América Latina y el Caribe [Changes in youth participation, changes in climate: Youth participation in defining the National Intended Contributions of Latin America and the Caribbean countries]. Lima: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Libélula. http://www.kas.de/energie-klima-lateinamerika/es/publications/43997/

Bazán, M., Kisic, P., & Chávez, J. (2014). Future Studies and Policy Design: Reflections on a 20-year experience at FORO Nacional Internacional in Peru. Development, 56(4), 518–524. https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2014.48